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Thursday, April 28, 2016

Skill Checklists for Google Certified Educator Level 1 and 2

So you are thinking about taking the exams to become a Google Certified Educator? But you are wondering what topics and skills are covered by the tests. This blog post is here to help you!

Google provides several possible certification options for educators including Educator Level 1, Educator Level 2, Trainer, Innovator, and Administrator. Of these, Educator Level 1 and 2 are the place to start and are especially designed for teachers and other educators in a school setting.

To earn the status of Google Certified Educator Level 1 or 2 you need to take an online exam that shows your practical knowledge of using Google Apps for Education in a school setting, as well as demonstrate your ability to perform many tasks within the Google Apps suite of tools.

See below for two printable checklists covering every topic and skill addressed by the Level 1 and 2 tutorials, as well as an overview of these certifications, and the main points about the exams. In preparation for the exams, you can use these lists to keep track of the skills you have mastered and those you still need to address.

Skills Checklists

Below are the detailed listings of the topics covered in the Google Certified Educator Level 1 and 2 training resources. In preparation for the test, you can use these lists to keep track of the skills you have mastered and those you still need to address.

To develop these lists I went through all of the online certification tutorials provided by Google and pulled out every skill and topic covered. I then organized the skills by tool, removed duplicates, and arranged the items in a logical order.

These checklists are freely available for personal use, and are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial 3.0 United States license. In short, you can copy, distribute, and adapt this work as long as you give proper attribution and do not charge for it.

If you're an educator who knows how to use Google tools in the classroom, this certification proves your proficiency.

Level 1 Certified Educators (GCE1) have demonstrated the fundamental skills needed to implement Google for Education tools in the classroom to enhance teaching and learning.

Google Certified Educator Level 2

If you're an educator who is a super user and enthusiast of Google tools in the classroom, this certification proves your expertise.

Level 2 Certified Educators (GCE2) have demonstrated the advanced skills needed to integrate Google for Education and other online tools to transform teaching and learning in schools.

For an overview of all the available Google certifications for educators see the slideshow below:

Online Tutorials

Google provides comprehensive online tutorial modules and lessons for both Level 1 and Level 2. You can work through these lessons at your own pace to learn or review the skills and topics you need to master for the exams. The tutorials can be found online at:

If your school or organization is interested in certification training, I provide onsite, in-person professional development to prepare educators for the Level 1 and Level 2 exams. My typical training is 2 to 4 days of in-depth, hands-on coverage of every skill needed for the certifications.

I am teaching a graduate course that will hopefully prepare teachers to take the Certified Educator Exam. Teachers wanted to get the 15 hours in 2 days, and I think that is going to be difficult...and I see you do it in 4-5 days. I think that is much more practical. Thank you for your resources...the checklists will be a help :)

Interested in how you set your course up? I'm trying to set up Google 1 & 2 online PD for our teachers in Canvas. I love your rubric I too am wanting my teachers to utilize what they are learning in Google and utilizing it in their classroom with their students via instructional use. Would you be willing to share?

I just took the test for Level 1 certification today and passed...yay! Even though my cohorts and I use the majority of the Google apps tested in Level 1 and considered ourselves proficient, it was still quite stressful and took almost the entirety of the allotted 3 hours. I'm wondering how much more difficult the Level 2 certification exam is. FYI...a couple of us had issues with the validation of our exams. It just kept spinning and spinning. Hours later we finally received emails verifying our results. Also, Level 1 is good for 3 years. I'll definitely be using your checklist for Level 2! Thank you :)

Level 1 and 2 exam format are very similar, but Level 2 is definitely harder. It is greater in scope, uses more apps, many non-G-Suite. Look carefully at the certification list and make sure you are confident in the skills listed. If you aren't, get to know these apps. I have worked with several colleagues to get them prepped for the exam. They were capable, but it was stressful.